Well, this morning we're going to take a close look at this famous passage of scripture. But before we get into the nuts and bolts, let's just set ourselves up. We need to know where we are in Bible history, where we are in the Old Testament. So if you look back at chapter 18 of 1 Kings, you will see, and hopefully you remember, you have the big showdown at Mount Carmel. There's a wicked king and queen on the throne, Ahab and Jezebel, and they have led the nation to worship a god. In fact, let's ask you, who are they worshiping? Bael, yeah, a god called Bael, a false god. And so Elijah prays for a drought and a drought comes. God doesn't let any rain fall for a couple of years. And it all comes to a head in chapter 18. And in chapter 18 there is like a barbecue competition, I suppose. You've got Bael's sacrifice and you've got Elijah's sacrifice. Who can light the sacrifice? That's the big question. Is it Yahweh, the Lord, the God of Israel, or Baal? Now, Baal is the God of lightning, so this should be a cinch for him, right? The God of lightning should be able to light a sacrifice. But despite having all the advantages, Baal is exposed for what he is. He is a sham. Of course, there is no Baal. He's imaginary. And therefore it wasn't really a heavyweight battle at all, it was a battle for the hearts and minds of the Israelites. And we know the story, don't we? Yahweh God sends fire, sends lightning down from heaven and Elijah's sacrifice and all the stones are all burnt up, all the water's licked up and it's gone. And it's a battle that on the surface looked like it had been won. 1 Kings 18 verse 39, now when all the people saw it they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord he is God, the Lord Yahweh he is God. So we think the fight is over and at the end of chapter 18 Elijah prays for rain seven times and in response the Lord sends it, dark clouds appear on the horizon and it starts bucking it down. And that leads us into chapter 19, well The passage this morning, as I've said, is pretty well known. I think if you've been a Christian any length of time you would have heard it. It's well known, but I don't think it's particularly easy to understand. What is going on in this strange bit of scripture? I'll lay out the popular theory about this passage. This bit of scripture is where people get the notion that God is more likely to be encountered in quiet places than in noisy places. So turn down the volume on your PA system. Lower the pianist a little bit. And we wait to meet God in the stillness. It's the idea that church should be a place of tranquility and calm and peace. And in that calmness, that's where we truly hear the voice of God. Discovering the benefits of silence is actually a pretty trendy form of spirituality, even today. It goes by the name of mindfulness. So many years ago when I used to teach on Telegraph Hill in Lewisham, the posh mummies would use one of the school halls for a bit of yoga. So a lot of middle class professionals, they'd roll out their blue mats and they'd contort themselves into all sorts of positions, and they'd sit there, they'd clear their minds, they'd calm down, lose themselves in the silence and the stillness. And of course, you know, we're busy people, we're Londoners. Life is stressful, it's hectic. London's going at 100 miles an hour, isn't it? So we need to calm down, we need to clear our heads. And that's what many people argue is going on here. Elijah is down, he's burnt out, he's lonely, he's exhausted, he's at the end of his tether, he's almost suicidal in verse 4 and he says, look I've had enough, I've failed as a prophet, my career as a prophet is over. So what does he do? He has a rest. By the time he wakes up, there's some angels there. They appear, they give him a cake, but cooked on some hot stones. It sounds like something you'd have at a posh restaurant, doesn't it? And then he goes to Mount Horeb, where God speaks to him in a calm, still, comforting voice. And what's the traditional application then? Well, isn't it great that when people are burnt out, And in times where we're exhausted, God knows we need to slow down and just listen for that gentle whisper of God. In fact, there's even a hymn about it. It wasn't in Christian Hymns, I tried to sing it this morning, but it wasn't in there. Breathe through the heat of our desire, thy coolness and thy balm. Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire. Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire. O still small voice of calm. Well I think there is some truth in that. We as Christians do get burnt out, we do get tired, we do get exhausted, depressed, downcast and as we've already seen this morning in 1 Peter we do have a God who understands and he cares about us and he meets our needs. God knows that we need a break from time to time. What does Jesus tell his disciples? Come aside and rest a while. So I do think that but is a big thing The more I study this passage, the more convinced I am that that is not the point the author's trying to make here. What I'm going to share with you this morning, I don't know if you would have heard before, right, it might be new, but don't discredit it because it's new. way up based on its biblical merits, okay? So this morning we're going to try and get to grips with this passage. We're going to compare it with other scripture, and I hope to show you that the response to God's word shouldn't be, ah, no, here it should be, oh. Because this is a frightening passage, and it's one that we all need to take note of. So we've got four points this morning and two simple questions. Point number one, what's this passage about? Well, it's about a desperately wicked people, verses one and two. So last chapter we had the Lord be Baal, the false god of thunder. God's proved himself. He's burnt up the sacrifice. Rain has come. So perhaps as readers, as we read through Kings, we're thinking, well, this is game set and match to the Lord, isn't it? We now expect Ahab and Jezebel to repent. They're going to knock down the Temple of Baal and they'll bring back state Yahweh worship. Elijah is going to be back on top. They're going to unite around this godly prophet, a bit like they did with the prophet Samuel. And God's blessing, well now Baal's been defeated, God's blessing can fall down on his covenant people. But what happens? Look at the beginning of chapter 19. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the swords. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me a more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. In other words, it's going to kill him. This is unbelievable, isn't it? This nutcase queen, despite all of the evidence before her, now wants to destroy Elijah. She's not repentant in any way. She's livid. Her prophets have been exposed and executed, and now she wants her revenge. And we find out in all this that Ahab is a wimp. He's seen with his own eyes the Lord demonstrate his power. Ahab should be leading his household and his nation back to God in repentance. But like Adam in the garden when he's wimping out, he's letting his wife call the shots. And that's a big problem. It's a big problem not just for him, but it's a problem for the whole nation of Israel. See kings are of vital importance as you read the Old Testament. One and two kings, we've got two books about it. Kings are important. The king's attitude to God sets the tone for the nation's attitude to God. So if you've got a godly king, you'll have a godly nation. So when King David's king, the man on the street worships Yahweh. But if you've got a dodgy king, the nation goes dodgy. So when Ahab is king, the man on the street worships Baal. And an unrepentant king means an unrepentant nation. The people will not follow God unless their king leads them in worship. So the Israelites, they don't turn back to Yahweh, they carry on in their wickedness because they've got no shepherd, no king to guide and deliver them. Okay, second point, preparing for a long journey, verses three to seven. Verse three, when he saw that, when Elijah saw that, he arose and ran for his life. And he went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die and said, It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life for I'm no better than my father's.' Then he lay and slept under a broom tree." Verse 3, then Elijah legs it to Judah, doesn't he, in the south. And the kingdom's in two parts, so he runs away from Ahab's territory. And I've heard people say, Elijah was wrong to run away. Why does he run away at this point? Well why, do you just want to let him sit there and be killed by Jezebel? God calls us to be faithful, he doesn't call us to be stupid. So of course he should run away. Get out of there, he's going to kill you. And other people say, well Elijah shouldn't be distraught. Well he's got every right to be distraught, isn't he, in verse 4? He can't believe that the royal family have not turned back to the lords. I wonder if you've ever gone out of your way to help someone, or bail them out of a situation, or fix a problem, and you spend a lot of time, effort, and energy, and even money, sorting out their mess, but a month or so later, they just go and mess it up again. It's frustrating, isn't it? You can't believe it. Well, that's where Elijah's at. Verse five, he goes to sleep, and he wakes up, and an angel feeds him. He then goes back to sleep. Look at verse 7. The angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched him and said, arise and eat because the journey's too great for you. This angel isn't feeding him to cheer him up. That's important. This isn't like when you've been dumped and you and the girls eat a tub of Ben and Jerry's to get over it, all right? This food is for a purpose. God's got a mission for Elijah. He's got something to show him, and it's going to involve a long journey. So he says, eat up. The journey's too great. You need your energy. Third point, a trip down memory lane, verse eight. Grove Chapel Evangelical Church in Camberwell. 14th of October, 2006, I married my wonderful wife, Keeley. And it was a beautiful autumn day. I remember it clearly. The sun was shining. Although it was October, it was really nice and warm. It was great. And a week later, we went to Barbados. Silver sands, the white sandy beaches, the water was warm. It was like a bath. It was brilliant. You don't forget the place where you got married, do you? You don't forget your honeymoon. If you do, you've got problems. There's nothing like a good old trip down memory lane. Where does God tell Elijah to go? Verse 8, he arose and ate and drank and he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of gods. And there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place. I ain't got any sweets this morning, but 10 points. Mount Horeb goes by another name in scripture. Everyone knows what it is. Come on, be brave. S. Sinai, Mount Sinai. Elijah goes to Mount Sinai. God takes him to Mount Sinai. If we're taken to Mount Sinai, it's a good bet that the Holy Spirit wants us to think about what's happened at Mount Sinai in the past. What did happen at Mount Sinai in the past? Hang on, wait, one at a time. And, Harry, not you, you know the answers. What happened at Mount Sinai? The Ten Commandments, yeah. God entered a covenant with the people of Israel. And a covenant's like a marriage, isn't it? He vowed to them to stay faithful to them. And they vowed to stay faithful to him. They'll keep the law, he'll stick with them. And if they did that, God would bless them and stick with them and there'd be this great relationship and a wonderful nation. This is the nation of Israel's wedding venue. This is where it all started, Mount Sinai. This is where they honeymooned with gods. God could have taken Elijah anywhere, couldn't he, to talk to him or show him what he needed to show him, but he doesn't. He takes him here. He brings him here. So we have to ask ourselves, why? Well, what was going on at Sinai the last time we visited? You can turn there if you want, we're going to be skipping through little bits of Exodus. So Exodus chapter 19 and verse 18. Exodus 19, 18 says this. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spake and God answered him by his voice. Okay, we're in Mount Sinai, we're back in the time of Moses. Do we have a mountain? Well, yeah. Do we have an earthquake? Yeah, the ground's quaking. Do we have wind? Well, yeah, it says there's a trumpet blast. That's wind, isn't it? And it's getting louder and louder and louder. Do we have fire? Yep, there's a fire there. Do we have God's voice? Yes, we do. We've got all those things there and now God is going to speak to the people and give them the law. He's got the ring. Get my ring off. God gets his ring and he puts it on the finger of the Israelites. But uh-oh, Exodus 32. Moses has been up in the mountain with God for 40 days. That's interesting, isn't it? Elijah's journey took 40 days. Moses was up the mountain for 40 days. He comes down Mount Sinai and who knows what he sees when he comes down Mount Sinai? What are the people doing? Worshipping the golden calf, yeah. What does Moses do because they're worshipping the golden calf? Smashes up the Ten Commandments. The wedding ring comes off. The covenant's over. He's like, well, what are they doing? They're already worshipping God and, you know, the ring's thrown out. Exodus 32 verse 10, God says, now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. That's what God wants to do, he's going to completely wipe these people out. But Moses pleads with God, he says don't wipe them out, have mercy on them, don't destroy them. If you dare, turn over to Exodus 33. Moses is now back up the mountain and he wants to see God's glory, he wants to see God move before him. Exodus 33, 21, the Lord said, here is a place by me and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be while my glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, or a little cave, and cover you with my hand while I pass by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. Moses climbs into this little gap in the rocks, in the side of the mountain, and God passes before him. And then God speaks. And what does God do? Well, God renews the covenant. Exodus 34 verse 1. Then the Lord said to Moses, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. God says, I'm going to give them another chance. The wedding ring's back on. So have some new wedding rings, new tablets are to be written. Tell the people they're forgiven for worshipping the golden calf. Exodus 34 verse 6 to 7, God tells Moses his name. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. What's God saying? He says, well, I'm merciful, I'm gracious, but you can't mug me off indefinitely. I am merciful but I'm also a fair judge and justice must be done. So your Israelites are forgiven, you got away with it. The whole golden calf thing, we'll draw a line under it, we'll start again, I've not divorced you. But I've got some new instructions for you. When you get to the promised land, God says, and you settle in and the land's yours and you're enjoying yourself, look what God says in verse 15 to them, Exodus 34, 15. take heed to yourselves lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they play the harlot with their God and make sacrifice to their gods. And one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice and you take of his daughters for your sons and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. God says I've let you off for this golden calf stuff. but don't wind me up. Be very careful when you get to the promised lands. Whatever you do when you get to the promised land, don't make covenants with the inhabitants of Canaan. Don't intermarry. Don't start to look sideways at other gods. You shall not make for yourselves any gods of cast metal. If you intermarry, if you worship other gods and make yourselves idols, God says, that will be the last straw. If you do, I'll take my vengeance and you'll be destroyed and sent into exile. God is merciful and patient, but he's not a doormat. So quickly look at the pattern, right? God gives them a covenant, they worship the golden calf, God forgives them and he renews the covenant and he says, don't do it again. If you do, you won't be innocent, you'll be guilty and you'll be punished for four generations. Christian friend, that is what the writer of Kings wants us to remember when we read that Elijah goes to Mount Sinai. He wants us to remember that the warning that God had given the Israelites Okay, so back to 1 Kings 19, what do we see in wicked King Ahab and his treacherous wife Jezebel? Well, Ahab has now crossed the line with Yahweh. Ahab has done exactly what the Lord forbade him to do. He'd made a treaty with the Sidonians. He'd sacrificed to their gods. He'd taken a daughter of the Sidonians, Jezebel, to be his wife. And now they were prostituting themselves to Baal and they were just going completely after Baal and false gods. Forget one golden calf, they'd made a ton of idols. They were worshipping them everywhere. Okay, fourth point, God's passes sentence, verse 9 to 18. All right, so here's Elijah and he's standing exactly where Moses stood. Look what it says, behold the word of the Lord came to him, verse 9, and he said to him, what are you doing here Elijah? Or in other words, what have you come to report Elijah? Verse 10, Elijah said, I've been very zealous for the Lord, God of hosts, for the children of Israel, have forsaken your covenant, torn down your orders, killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and they seek to take my life. I've heard some people say that Elijah's sulking here, he's feeling sorry for himself. But everything Elijah says is true, isn't it? He is the only one who's been zealous for the Lord. The Israelites have forsaken the covenant. They have broken down the orders. They had turned on Yahweh's prophets and killed them. Elijah was the only prophet brave enough to stand up for the truth. Everyone else was in hiding and they were trying to kill him. Everything he says is true. This is his verdict on Israel. Okay, says the Lord, verse 11, stand up but stay in your cave, stay in the cleft of the rock. Just like Moses, stand before me and I'll pass you by. And behold, the Lord passed by and a great strong wind tore into the mountain and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. Now the big problem here is the Hebrew word for a still small voice. There is no English equivalent to a still small voice. Some translators translate it a gentle whisper, some a thin low noise. One translation simply says the sound of sheer silence. So what was that noise? What's the idea in the original Hebrew? Well, I think it's something like this. Get the idea of a tumbleweed going by. What I'm suggesting here is that this isn't God speaking. In fact, even if it is a small, tiny voice, the text doesn't tell us that God's speaking, does it? It tells us everywhere else that God speaks to Elijah. It doesn't say it here. Maybe I need to convince you. a bit more. Well, consider in the Old Testament when God speaks, people know about it, don't they? The idea of God speaking quietly is an alien concept in scripture. That's why we read Psalm 29 earlier. Psalm 29, verse 3 to 9, the voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of Glory thunders. Thunders ain't quiet, is it? The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. When God speaks, he does not do it quietly. All Elijah hears on that mountain is the sound of wind whistling through the valley. Now, if that's the right reading of this text, then what is God telling us through his words? Well, Elijah's given his evidence. They've forsaken your covenant again, Lord. They never learn. And so now God has passed sentence. Remember, we've gone back to the mountain where the covenant was established, where the vows were exchanged. Is this the right venue? Well, we're on Mount Sinai, and just like in Exodus, we've got a prophet hiding in a cave. He's done so because the people have broken the covenant. He's in the right place on the right mountain, and he's in a safe place where he can encounter God. Will God give his people another chance? As he passes by, is he going to offer them fresh terms? Is he going to put the wedding ring back on? Is there an earthquake? Yep. Is there a mighty wind? Yes. Is there fire? Yes. We are definitely in the right place. This is where we expect to hear God's voice. Will God give the rebellious people any more chances? Well, no. Because the writer tells us God ain't there. He's not in the earthquake. He's not in the wind. He's not in the fire. there's simply nothing. He's not there for them at all. He has nothing left to say to these people. As Elijah is there, he's ringing the doorbell, he's looking through the net curtains, he's got the right address, but God's not answering the door. They've crossed the line, they've pushed God one step too far. Silence is not golden when it comes to gods. Verse 13, so it was when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, it is the voice of God, and said, what are you doing here Elijah? Give me your verdict again, Elijah. What have they been doing? I've been very zealous for the Lord because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your orders, killed your prophets with a sword. I alone am left and they seek to take my life. Okay, says God, here's my sentence. I'm going to destroy all of them. Go and appoint three assassins. Look what he says, verse 15. The Lord said to him, go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Assyria. Also you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel Meholah, you shall appoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. Whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. Every knee that still bends in honour of Baal, I'm going to wipe them out, God says. From a nation of several million, I've reserved a tiny remnant. Just a fraction of the Northern tribe, 7,000, are going to survive. And those I'll continue to bless and preserve. But the rest of them, I'm done with them. And friends, do you realise that's what the rest of one and two kings is all about? It's about the slow, steady decline of Israel as they drift further and further away from God's. The northern tribes never repent. Everything they have is rotten. Everything they have worships idols and leads the people away. In 2 Kings 17 at the very end we see the northern tribes fall. They're overrun by the Assyrian Empire and taken forever into captivity. It says this of them, the Lord rejected all the people of Israel He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers and said he thrust them from his presence. Why? Well, because if you keep pushing God away, one day he'll stay away. In 1 Kings 19, we see the point that God washes his hands of his people. He says enough is enough, we are done. Okay, let's close then with some application. Two questions. Question number one, how many more times will you risk pushing God away? How many more times will you sit in this church and hear the gospel message and do nothing about it? Maybe you're young, maybe 500 more times you've got. Maybe 50 more times. Maybe five more times. But here's the question, how many chances do you expect God to give you? Please don't be fooled into thinking that God gives unlimited chances. That's what the world believes, isn't it? God's a God of love. Oh, he's going to let everyone into heaven in the end. He does not. What does God say about himself in Exodus? The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, but He does not leave the guilty unpunished. There is a window to God's generosity. He's slow to anger, but that doesn't mean that he never passes sentence. He is merciful, but he can't just sweep your sin under the carpet. If you do not repent, if you do not listen to the voice of God, you will die unforgiven. and you will be stripped of every good thing you enjoy from his hands. You will face the fire of his anger in hell, but God will not be there. You'll quake and tremble in fear, but he will not deliver you. You will feel the full gale force wind of wrath of his anger as he completely deserts you. you'll be confronted with the never-ending silence of hell, where you'll never hear another human voice, or a bird sing, or a tune whistled. The deafening sound of silence will only be broken by your own groans. How long are you going to keep pushing God away? Final question then, where is the cure? What do we learn about human beings from the Old Testament in passages like 1 Kings 19? Moses and Elijah, their prophets, their leaders of Israel, God's chosen people, but both of them had a massive problem. They were constantly coming to terms with the wickedness of the human heart. Jeremiah 17, 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it? Think about Moses, right? Here's God, and he's rescued the people from slavery. They were slaves in Egypt. And God's brought them out, and he's made a contract with them, and he's blessed them. But what does Moses just see? He sees that the people are wicked. They've got wicked hearts. They rebel, they moan, they make a golden calf. They say, we want to go back to Egypt. We want to be slaves again. And so God time and time and time again forgives them. He gives them chance after chance after chance. Moses' problem is that the people have wicked hearts. They're bent out of shape by sin. What's the answer? Where's the cure? Well, Elijah sees the same thing, doesn't he? God has given the Israelites the promised land by Elijah's day and he's blessed them with a wonderful temple covered in gold. God himself sometimes goes to the temple and fills it with his presence. And yet the people reject him and they turn to Baal and the nations split apart. Now they'd rather go to Bethel and Dan and worship a golden calf than go to Jerusalem. And even after they turned to idols, the Lord still went out of his way to bring them back. He showed them that Baal was a fraud, but still they don't want to know. Will nothing renew or change the hearts of these wicked human beings? What's the answer? Where's the cure? As I was preparing this sermon the first time round, it hit me. Moses and Elijah and a mountain. listening to the voice of God. Final question for you lot, is there anywhere else in the Bible where we get Moses and Elijah on a mountain listening to God's voice? The man of transfiguration, yeah. Matthew 17, sorry, yeah, Matthew 17 verse 1. After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, his clothes became as white as the light, and behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear him. I wonder when we read passages in the Old Testament, how do we apply it to ourselves? A big danger is that we simply try to put ourselves in the shoes of Elijah. So Elijah's brave, so I should be brave. I should pray like Elijah, I should trust God like Elijah. I need to be more Elijah-y. But look, the reality is, it's not in Elijah we see ourselves most, is it? It's in the rebellious Israelites. as we traipse after other gods and worship our own little idols. That's where we are in the story. You ain't Elijah, you ain't Moses. No, our hearts are just as wicked and bent out of shape as theirs were. Our sin is just as serious as Israel's was in the Old Testament. If the old covenant led to certain death and destruction, well, where can the cure be found? Well, Moses and Elijah stand on a mountain again, and this time there isn't silence. There isn't the terrifying earthquake, wind and fire of Exodus and 1 Kings. Instead, there's a kind, gentle king. And this time God speaks. Elijah gets his answer. There is a solution when it comes to the wickedness of humanity. Yahweh speaks. He says, this is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him, hear him. See, in Jesus, we finally find a good king who will lead his people back into the presence of God, with a good shepherd who will lay down his life for his sheep. We've got a brother who will wash us clean of every sin and put into us a new heart. If you cry out to Jesus in genuine repentance, he promises this morning that he will make you a new creature. He will breathe eternal life into you and you will live with him forever and ever. What is the cure for a sinful human heart? Well, it's a new covenant. A new covenant based on the blood of Jesus, the blood that he shed on the cross. A new marriage between Jesus and his bride, the church. A church you're invited to be a part of. And so this morning, I'm pleading with you, not in a quiet, passive whisper, but in a loud, urgent shout, like when the fire alarm goes off, warning of impending doom. He calls you loudly to join him, to bow down before him and be saved. Awake you who sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will